BALDUR'S GATE: DARK ALLIANCE
Extreme Mode Strategy Guide/Walkthrough
Version 1.0, August 28th 2003
Written by and copyright 2003 "Ti" Mike Ayles
Email: michael_ayles@yahoo.com
http://members.lycos.co.uk/igotyousucka/hob
============
1. File Info
============
Version 1.0 - Second release of the guide, the walkthrough is now complete
for the archer. Uploaded to GameFAQs on August 28th, 2003.
Version 0.6 - The first publicly released version of the guide.
Created July 2, 2003 and uploaded to GameFAQs on July 6th, 2003.
===============
2. Introduction
===============
Welcome to my BG:DA strategy guide/walkthrough for the Extreme difficulty
setting. This is my first FAQ, so I'd appreciate it if you don't judge too
harshly. The purpose of this guide is to give you ideas for surviving the
rather challenging Extreme mode of Dark Alliance, which is unlocked once you
finish the Gauntlet mode (which itself is unlocked by finishing the game once
with any character). This guide is, therefore, meant for people who have
already finished the game once and thus do not need the basics of the game
spelled out for them. Rather than write detailed walkthroughs for the
different areas of the game, I will be giving out pointers for each section
and working on the assumption that you've seen it all before. You'll find
that playing Extreme mode requires some significantly different tactics, and
approaching a certain room with a strategy that worked fine on normal (or even
hard) can leave you lying in a pool of sewer water in no time flat. It's a
humbling experience.
Since you are required to import a character from a previous game when you
begin, and since it would be foolhardy to import any character that had not
already bested the game at least once, I'll be working on the assumption that
your character has knocked off Edlrith at least once. That should put you on
or about level 17, which is why I use that number so frequently in this guide.
One final note: for now I'll be writing this guide from the perspective of the
archer, since that's the character that I'm going through Extreme mode with
currently. Obviously, much of what I say will apply to any character class,
but some of it won't.
===================================
3. Welcome to Extreme Mode
(It's going to be a bumpy night)
===================================
The first thing that you will most likely notice as you begin your Extreme
adventure is that you will be asked to import a character right off the bat.
You will soon see why, as this play mode is hard enough to survive with a 17th
level character - the average cellar rat could turn a first level character
into hamburger in no time. The second thing you'll notice is that, unlike
when you import a character into hard mode, here you start without any items.
And there's the rub.
They say that the clothes make the man, and this is equally true for dwarves
and elves as well. Without any weapons or armor, even a 17th level archer
isn't much to speak of. Bow skills? Not too useful without a bow. 200 HP?
Doesn't last that long without any armor.
NOTE: I have to assume that the sorceress would have the easiest time
at the outset of Extreme mode since she would keep her spells,
which are generally her most powerful attacks. I'll give it a
try later on and get back to you.
Something else that you'll probably pick up on quickly is that the store is
stocking some much more appealing items than it used to. This is good, but
also bad. While it's nice to know that you can look forward to kicking some
serious tail with those fancy weapons, you won't be able to afford them for a
while - in fact, there's nothing cheap to buy at all. So there's no low-level
armor, no cheap swords, and above all, NO BOWS! I'll explain why that's such
a problem in the next section.
So what do you do? The answer is that you fight, tooth and nail, until the
enemies start dropping weapons and armor. Once they do, you'll see your
armament issues fading very quickly, as even the lowly kobolds drop an
assortment of magical weapons that will make your like much easier. In fact,
before you've left the first floor of the cellar, you'll start finding weapons
as good as (or better) than those for sale for such expensive prices. So this
brings me to the following handy tip:
HANDY TIP #1: Save your money for potions
Since you probably have between 150-250 HP, you're going to need potions of
Extra Healing if you want to stay alive, and those will eat into your earnings
quite quickly, at least during the first few levels.
The reason that you'll need all these potions is because the monsters in
Extreme mode are ludicrously powerful. The rats are hardy, the kobolds are
actually dangerous and the bugbears (I think that's what they are) will have
you fighting for your life. They all have tons of HP and do loads of damage.
Furthermore, their armor classes are significantly better, and you'll find
yourself missing them quite frequently with melee attacks. As they can put
the hurt on so effectively, allow me to suggest a second handy tip.
HANDY TIP #2: Learn to block
When going one-on-one with a stronger enemy, try to block their attacks and
strike them just afterwards. This wasn't really necessary in Normal mode, but
it can help you a lot here.
One thing you shouldn't look forward to is making a lot of levels, at least at
the outset. Monsters don't give much experience in the beginning, and quest
rewards haven't changed at all. Suddenly, that 200 experience for finishing
the rat quest doesn't seem like such a great deal...
One final suggestion is that you turn on the damage text in the options menu.
This causes little numbers to pop up indicating how much damage you've done
each time you hit an enemy, and it's the best way of determining how effective
your attacks are. I never would have realized how ineffectual regular arrows
were against skeletons if I hadn't seen it written down plain as day.
HANDY TIP #3: Turn on damage text
So, in summary, there are three things that you need to know about Extreme
mode:
1. The monsters, even the smallest and least impressive of them, are deadly.
2. The items that they drop are much better than those that you would get
in normal or hard mode.
3. The experience that you receive is, unfortunately, not really any better
than in normal mode, so don't expect to get much stronger than you were
when you finished the game the first time (at least for a while).
============================
4. Suggested Skills (Archer)
============================
Extreme mode starts out, uh...extremely...challenging. You might not think
that fighting rats, even super powerful rats, could be that difficult, but you
probably weren't expecting to do it with a rusty dagger that does 1-3 damage,
now were you? To get through those first few floors of cellar, here are some
skills that will make your life easier.
1. Improved Critical is a must. Critical hits will be your only real damage
dealers in the beginning (since you can't use bow skills without a bow, and
you won't find a bow for a while), and if you have a few levels of Death Blow
as well, your critical hits can easily deal 3 times the damage of your regular
ones. Later on, these critical hits will activate the useful features of your
weapons, like ice bursts and disruption.
2. Repulsion will save your hide, no doubt about it. This skill isn't
particularly powerful, but for the archer, it'll be all you've got for a while.
Until you find a bow somewhere, you can't even use any of your other active
feats, so no more blasting your way through a level with Hail of Arrows (which
is basically how I got through the entire game on normal mode). Repulsion
will, of course, give you some breathing room when you're being mobbed by
enemies. It also deals out a small, but nevertheless appreciable amount of
damage. What's more, it also stuns some enemies briefly, which is especially
useful against the spear-throwing kobolds at the beginning of the game.
3. Once you do find a bow, consider investing in Shock Arrows. Hail of Arrows
does damage according to bow type, so it won't do you much good with the weak
bows that you find early on in the game. Shock Arrows are the best of the
elemental arrows and can do almost 50 damage on the very lowest level,
regardless of bow type. They also work wonders on the pesky skeletons in the
crypt, which take very little damage from piercing attacks (like normal
arrows).
4. Intestinal Fortitude will help you become more self-sufficient, although
it's a bit less of a priority. Still, it's a nice thing to have if you can't
afford to buy any potions and you're low on health.
5. Of course, you can never go wrong with Combat Reflexes. More attacks=more
dead enemies. Who says math is hard?
Don't be afraid to pick skills that go with your playing style, too. Also,
consider getting a point or two of endurance, since you'll be wearing heavy
armor much earlier than you did last time around.
============================
5. Act I Walkthrough
The Cellar and The Sewers
============================
Thought you were tough, did you? Well I've got an army of giant rats here
that thinks otherwise. Admittedly, the rats aren't really terrifying, but
they'll give you a good idea of what you'll be up against. You'll find that
it takes at least 4-5 hits to take out most of these rats, unless you get a
critical. Don't be shy about repulsing them whenever you get surrounded by
more than one. Go slowly and give yourself time to heal until you've
accumulated enough money to buy some potions. I'd consider investing in a bit
of armor, too, since your starting clothes are more or less useless. Loot
like crazy, smash every barrel and urn you find in hopes of finding potions
and money. You'll notice that you actually get a decent amount of gold here,
a sign of good things to come.
Your first challenge will be that small group of spiders, which will pose a
more significant threat than the rats do. Keep them away with repulsion,
don't let them mob you. Be sure to return to the bar once you've killed all
the rats and you've found the bottle of wine for your pathetic reward.
Proceed into the sewers, where you'll start seeing kobolds. The spear-throwers
are a pain, so this is a good place to start practicing your blocking. The
good news is that kobolds occasionally drop useful items (unlike rats), and
you'll soon start seeing treasure chests.
Ah, treasure chests! What joy lies within? Even in the first level of the
sewers, chests can give you some seriously helpful items. Before long you'll
be collecting decent weapons (no more vanilla short swords and axes), magical
armor and the occasional ring or amulet. It's very much a luck-of-the-draw
type thing here, so if you find a really good item, be sure to SAVE YOUR GAME
afterwards. No guarantees that you'll see that enchanted half-plate armor
again if you get killed and are forced to replay an area.
The bugbears are a lot more dangerous this time around, you'll find. Try to
fight them alone, either by killing the accompanying kobolds, running away
from them (they are much faster than the kobolds, who will get left behind) or
repulsing frequently (which knocks the kobolds far away but doesn't do a whole
lot to the bugbears).
----------------
THE THREE LEVERS
----------------
Remember the room with three levers and about 20 spear throwing kobolds? It's
gonna be pretty tough this time around. I suggest that you move one of the
large boxes into position to block some projectile attacks and try to take out
a small group at a time. I had a lot of luck with repulsion here, since all of
the thrown kobolds won't be able to attack you while they're moving. That can
give you the breathing room you need to get in and wail away with your melee
weapon.
If you're feeling brave, head over to where the giant rat is (look for the
bodies of a bunch of kobolds that you didn't kill yourself). While there's
no huge experience reward for doing in the rat, there are a few decent
treasures and a lot of cash scattered throughout its den.
-----------------
BUGBEAR CHIEFTAIN
-----------------
Here's the first boss of the game, big, strong and ugly. Don't even think
about fighting him until you've taken care of most of his lackeys, they can be
lured out a couple at a time and taken care of in the hallway. Don't forget
that you CAN use recall potions during this fight, so if the going gets tough,
hightail it out of there. Once it's down to you and him, just pound away and
try to block some of his attacks. By now you should have the money to buy a
decent supply of potions, so drink up! There's some good looting to be done
once he's dead, so you'll be rewarded for your efforts. I think this is where
I found my first bow...
Proceed to the second level of the sewers, where you'll start seeing various
slimes and gelatinous cubes. The cubes can drop some very nice items at this
point, like the fine great sword +2 that became my primary weapon until Act II.
They are immune to lightning damage, so forget about shock arrows, just get in
close and let them have it. Watch out for groups of 2-3 bugbears, I recommend
that you lead them through a doorway and make good use of any bows you've
found so far.
The rest is just more of the same, so let us move ahead to the crypt.
===================================
6. Act I Walkthrough
The Crypt and the Thieves' Guild
===================================
Finally, something new to bash. The crypt is basically full of skeletons and
zombies, but not a whole lot of surprises. Here are some useful tips to keep
in mind:
1. Blunt weapons do more damage to skeletons, swords/axes/bows and such all
operate at reduced effectiveness.
2. If you have a half-decent weapon with disruption, use it. Those one-hit
kills can save you a lot of hacking.
If you don't have a decent disrupting or bludgeoning weapon, do what I did:
use your regular weapon to take out the zombies and use magic arrows to deal
with the skeletons. The zombies are slow enough that you can run circles
around them, so you should never let yourself get surrounded. My weapon of
choice was a greatsword, with enough range that I could hit them and they
couldn't hit me. Nice.
The skeletons are much faster, though, and they can surround you if you aren't
careful. Repulsion will help if they do, but try to prevent it in the first
place by taking them out at range. Unlike normal arrows, which do reduced
damage against skeletons, shock arrows work quite nicely. You could also use
flaming arrows or, even better, ice arrows that can potentially slow them down
through freezing.
This whole section is quite straight forward, just proceed slowly and save
often. All is fine until you reach...
---------------------
The Orb of the Undead
---------------------
Two words of advice: stock up. You'll need arrows galore and gallons of extra
rejuvenation potions. I personally took in some 600 arrows and maybe 25 extra
rejuvenation potions - the arrows were barely enough to get the job done and
the potions ran out some time before I finished.
First things first, start out by beating on the orb itself with your strongest
weapon. If you really maxed out on the arrows you could potentially use some
here (a close range hail of arrows does good damage if all 6 connect), but
you're going to need them more once the orb conjures up some undead for you
to fight.
Once you get mobbed, the real fun begins. Hit the orb until the last possible
second, then repulse away the gang of skeletons that will have surrounded you.
Start running and get them chasing you so that they are all on one side. Fire
off a couple of shock arrows (or maybe exploding arrows, if you have them) and
then run some more before they can catch up to you. I call this the "Tour de
Cave". It'll take a while, but you'll eventually thin out that crowd that's
been following you, and the orb will come back down. Lather, rinse, repeat 4
times and you win. Be patient, this fight can easily take 10-15 minutes to
win, and trying to rush it will only cost you health.
Now that the orb is gone, onto the thieves' guild. The thieves themselves are
fast and hearty, I found myself reverting to hail of arrows at close ranges to
take them out. They'll put the hurt on really quickly if a bunch of them gang
up on you, so keep moving all the time. The little floating eye things aren't
too dangerous, just stay far away and open fire with your bow.
Watch out for the trapped chests, they'll put a real damper on your day.
Make your way across the various pits and around the traps (this should be old
hat to you, it's no harder than it was on normal mode) until you start running
into spiders. The larger spiders are particularly traumatizing as they are
fast, powerful, have tons of HP and can poison you. The first one that you
fight shows up after you cross a large pit via falling platforms. The good
news is that if you don't stray too far from where you arrive, you'll be
protected from the largest spider by a narrow passageway that it can't fit
through. Plug it with arrows (preferably shock arrows) till it goes down.
Unfortunately, there's another one in the spiral corridor that will have very
little trouble getting up close and personal with you. Attack, retreat,
attack, retreat down the hallway until it's dead - depending on the bow you
have you may want to use hail of arrows or shock arrows. I haven't tried
using ice arrows yet, but it would probably help a lot to freeze the great
beast.
-----
Karne
-----
Not to be confused with Karen, Karne is the guy in the helmet who's been
talking to everyone in all those cutscenes. If I can give you one word of
advice: stay the hell away from him! Karne's two-hander does monster damage,
you're much better off staying back and using long ranged attacks, occasionally
blocking his daggers. Incidentally, I brought 25 extra healing and 25 extra
rejuvenation potions with me when I fought him, and I probably wouldn't have
survived with 1 less of either. Also, watch out for vengeance from beyond the
grave - Karne will chuck one last dagger at you after dropping all of his
stuff. That'd be a pretty embarrassing way to die after beating him.
Astute reader opi brought to my attention the fact that Karne will not enter
the trapped part of the corridor outside his room. If you ever get low on
HP or energy, retreat to a spot by the fireball columns. Karne will return to
his room and you can rest up as much as you want to before rejoining the fray.
Once Karne is out of the picture, you can move on to the final level of the
guild. The trap rooms aren't really any more difficult than they were before,
with the exception of the three bugbears at the end - but you should be able
to handle them by now. This brings us to...
------
Xantam
------
Some people think it's dumb that your 7th level character can kill a beholder
single-handedly on normal difficulty mode. I think it's dumb that the
beholder in question sounds like he was named after some kind of perscription
heartburn medication. But I digress.
This won't be too hard, there are two approaches I can suggest. The safe, long
way is to stay back and fire away with your bow. Xantam's long range attacks
don't do much more damage than they did on normal mode, now that you have a
couple hundred HP they won't do much to faze you. It's much faster, however,
to run in a thwomp him the good old-fashioned way, but this brings you within
range of his biting attack. Ironically, Xantam's bite used to be much less
threatening than his magic attacks, but on extreme difficulty its power level
has been bumped up significantly. One good chomp can take out 3/4 of your
health! Still, if you block his biting attacks, the close-range method will
get you through this fight pretty quickly.
That's it for Act I. Now you're on your way to Act II, where things will get
more interesting (I'll admit that it's my favorite part of the game). There
are some great items to buy, and you'll actually start gaining some levels.
If you can survive the Wind's Walk, that is...
==============================
7. Act II Walkthrough
Wind's Walk and Burning Eye
==============================
You might not have thought much of the Wind's Walk the first time you played
through it, but I bet you that it will be the biggest challenge that you've
faced so far once you get to it on extreme mode. Getting through it is a
gruelling test of endurance; since you can't recall to town, you have to
survive on whatever supplies you started with, plus what few you'll find along
the way. To this end, I strongly suggest that you equip some rings or amulets
to boost your strength, because you'll need the carrying capacity. Buy as many
arrows and potions as you can hold (both types, you can save health by using
your powerful bow skills to kill enemies faster). Keep a save game where you
have access to the Elfsong in case you find that you just can't finish the area
with the supplies you have.
Your primary foes in this area will be gnolls, trolls and some sort of
mud-yetis that throw dirt at you. The gnolls and yetis don't have tons of HP,
but they are most certainly numerous. Since the path is narrow, you probably
won't need to do too much repulsing to keep them off your back, but you'll be
using plenty of shock arrows to take them out before they can get close. If
you do end up toe to toe with a gnoll, don't forget to block its attacks.
Unfortunately, blocking the rocks that yetis and trolls throw doesn't tend to
work, you'll need to avoid them instead. This will, of course, prove very
difficult what with the narrow trails and numerous enemies impeding your
movement.
The good news is that once you make it to the save point, you'll be more than
halfway done. Remember, frequent saving may require a lot of backtracking,
but every second you spend running is a second you spend regaining your health
and energy. If all goes well, you'll make it out the other side and find
yourself at the...
---------------------------------
Dwarven Mining Camp/Shopping Mall
---------------------------------
All right, remember what I said about finding weapons as good as those
available in the shop? Forget it, Brannoch has the best stuff going. I hope
that you've saved up some gold, because there are two must-buy items here, as
well as a number of others that are very worthy of your gold. But first things
first: buy the Serrated Mithral Bastard Sword! It does 69 damage with every
single hit, plus any strength bonuses you may have, plus Death Blow modifiers
if you get a critical hit. None of the weapons you find for the next while
will be even close to as effective, so treat yourself right.
The other item that you should consider is the ring that gives you a whopping
+14 bonus to your strength. While the law of diminishing returns applies to
the damage bonus you get with higher strength (going from 21 to 35 strength
only added 3 points of damage to my basic attack), your carrying capacity
increases linearly. A strength bonus of +14 means an additional 140 pounds of
carrying capacity, which means 140 more extra healing potions or 70 more extra
rejuvenation potions in your pack. And yes, you'll need them eventually.
Once you've gotten equipped properly, you should find that Act II is actually
a good deal easier to get through than Act I was. If you sell off most of the
treasure that you find, you'll always have plenty of cash for potions, so don't
be afraid to drink them like they're going out of style.
-----------
Burning Eye
-----------
Out come the wolves, which aren't particularly dangerous or rewarding to fight.
They'll go down in about 4 hits if you have the bastard sword that I told you
to buy earlier, and they're also pretty susceptible to shock arrows if you
prefer to keep them at arm's length. You'll also run into some more gnolls - I
should point out that the armored ones have significantly more hit points, and
they will become more and more common as you progress. The snow yetis are a
pain, too, since the freezing action of the snowballs they hurl will reduce
your movement and attack rates. Still, if you armed yourself properly, you
should be able to cut through them without much trouble. The trolls will be
chucking ice chunks at you too, now, making them even less fun to deal with.
Run all around collecting the various bits you need to start the signal fire.
Once you have them, start heading for the peak. The lightning orbs that used
to be somewhat dangerous aren't too much to worry about now that you have
tons of HP, just whack them with your sword. You can also pepper them with
arrows, but don't waste your time using shock arrows, which don't hurt them.
Light the signal fire and return to the mining camp for your reward.
=============================
8. Act II Walkthrough
The Mines and the Ice Cave
=============================
There is something seriously wrong with a game where killing drow is easier
than killing zombies. You'll find this to be the case, though, as you venture
into the dwarven mines. The drow come in three flavors: swordsman, archer and
sorceress. None of them have any HP to speak of, although they all can do
decent damage to you. The swordsmen and a piece of cake unless you get mobbed
by them, but you should be good at avoiding that kind of situation by now.
The magic-users aren't too bad, but they seem to come in numbers. I recommend
fighting fire with fire and using your shock arrows to nail them from afar.
The crossbowmen should be terminated with extreme prejudice - their arrows are
poisoned and can cause you a lot of grief.
Other than the three basic kinds of drow, you'll fight some spiders (but none
of the really huge ones) and some mounted riders, which are basically like
swordsmen with more hit points. Since you never see more than one rider at a
time, they won't cause you too much distress. The umber hulks will, though,
'cause holy crap are they are tough. Since they are somewhat slow, don't
hesitate to back up and give yourself some breathing room when fighting them.
Keep your health high, one good swipe from these guys can take off half of it
easily. Thankfully there are only a few to deal with.
Grab the gears on the first level to proceed to the second and eventually the
third. It's time to take out the ringleader of this dark-elf army.
--------------
Drow Priestess
--------------
Allow me to begin with a little anecdote: My friend and I suppressed a number
of chuckles when we saw how much effort the development team put into
animating the various female NPCs breasts in the first part of this game.
We outright exploded with laughter when the scantily clad drow leader began to
pole-dance for us with her staff. Is it possible to animate this sort of
thing without realizing what you're doing? I doubt it.
This will be an easy fight. Since shock arrows don't do any damage to this
particular dark-elf, I recommend that you just hack away with your sword at
close range. Her most dangerous attack is when she kicks you/knees you in the
groin (actually, I bet that would hurt), but if you keep her at the outside
edge of your sword range she won't even use it. I only needed 8 potions to
beat her, compared to the 30 or so it took to finish Karne off.
Take her key, free that dwarf, return to town and claim your reward. It's off
to the ice cave!
---------------
The Dark Forest
---------------
Look, your map's already all filled in - how thoughtful. There's nothing new
in the forest, although you will run into some kobolds, who will obligingly
die for you in a swipe or two of your sword (still using the Serrated Mithral
Bastard Sword, right?). I recommend killing all the monsters here, it's not
too hard to do and there's enough experience in it to make it worth your
while. Keep heading north and you'll arrive at the cave.
------------
The Ice Cave
------------
Hordes of yetis await you in the ice caves, as well as a few new monsters. Oh,
and some more spiders. Anyway, the yetis are quite numerous, stay back and
plug them with shock arrows until the path is clear. You'll soon find
yourself up against some displacer beasts, which thankfully don't have very
many hit points. You can use the electric trails left by shock arrows to spot
them when they are invisible, but it's hardly even worth the effort, since they
aren't exceptionally dangerous. There are also a number of frost wolves that
don't pose too much of a problem other than the occasional freezing status.
Don't ask my why there are ice spiders here. So far we've fought sewer
spiders, guild-approved spiders, enormous spiders and cave spiders. Later on
it will be soot-covered tower spiders, but right now it's ice spiders. There
is one particularly large one, but this should be pretty easy to deal with by
now. There are also a bunch of frost giants, which you should definitely keep
at arm's length. Not YOUR arm, theirs. The ice projectiles are all preceded
by a grunting sound and aren't that frequent, so you can avoid the most of
them without much hassle (unless you're being attacked by some other kind of
monster in the meanwhile). Anywho, those axes pack a real whallop, you don't
want to mess with them if you don't have to. Since the giants don't ever move
(perhaps they weren't animated for running?) you can just fire away and move
when the snowballs are about to hit you.
Continue like this until you reach the entrance to Ciraxis' cave. Now don't
go in just yet, you'll need to resupply first in the mining camp. Once the
dragon is dead, you'll have to make it through the first section of Act III
without a safe spot to recall to.
-------
Ciraxis
-------
Thankfully, Ciraxis is pretty easy to put down. Again, I don't know why the
dragon is easier to kill than a plain old fighter like Karne was, it just is.
I don't suggest approaching Ciraxis, not that that's even possible when he's
flapping his wings and pushing you back. Not surprisingly, shock arrows are
the order of the day, and winning is mostly a question of patience. Use
potions, stay back and try to avoid the falling ice. You've had worse.
Right, with Ciraxis dead you can loot the numerous chests in his room and
proceed on to Act III. What you CAN'T do is return to the mining camp, so I
hope you heeded my advice and brought some extra potions and arrows before
fighting him. A mysterious force, indeed.
=======================================
9. Act III Walkthrough
Adderspine Road and Chelimber's Keep
=======================================
Well, here we are, already the final act of the game. Things start out pretty
easily with the sunken chapel, a short section filled with your usual undead
monsters (skelingtons and zombees, as it were). Hack and slash until you make
it outside, where the real adventure will begin.
--------------------
Adderspine Road West
--------------------
The zombies from before are still prevalent on the surface - do stay away from
downed zombie corpses, they release toxic gases that can drain large amounts of
much needed HP. You'll also meet a new kind of enemy here: lizard men. As
far as I can tell, lizard men are practically palette-swapped gnolls with the
exception of one particular sort. You've got your warrior lizard men and your
magic-using lizard men, both of which aren't too different from gnolls or
kobold spellcasters except that they have more hit points. There are also the
bombardier lizard men and these should be terminated as quickly as possible,
because they can do piles of damage in very short order with their explosives.
I generally find that it pays to stay back and let your arrows do the talking
in this section. Especially with the exploding zombie corpses underfoot, you
are better off keeping your distance. The lizard man spellcasters may require
you to do some chasing after them, though, and if you don't nail them they'll
pepper you with poison clouds until the novelty has completely worn off. If
you remembered to stock up before fighting Ciraxis, you won't have too much
trouble getting to Sleyvas - and with him, your safe resting point.
--------------------
Adderspine Road East
--------------------
This is less of a road and more of a giant square, if you ask me. I recommend
that you canvass the area and dispose of all lizard-beings encountered. There
is a decent amount of experience available, some treasure too, and the threat
isn't too great. This is pretty straightforward, so let's move on.
-----------------------------------
Chelimber's Crown and Keep Exterior
-----------------------------------
Lots and lots more lizard men await your bashing inside the fortress. They
can be pretty dangerous when they mob you, so keep using your ranged attacks
and proceed slowly. There are lots of goodies to be found here, so be
thorough and clean it all out.
The keep exterior is more or less the same deal as the crown, so it doesn't
get its own heading. Kill everything that moves, take everything that
glitters.
-------------------------
Chelimber's Keep Interior
-------------------------
Yes, there are more lizard men here. At least you're almost done with them.
There are also a few umber hulks thrown in, just to mix things up, but not
enough to really worry you. Feel free to proceed as usual, but you might want
to consider not detonating any explosive barrels, since they can be useful
later on. Thump away on the baddies until you get to the important-looking
room just after a save point. Inside, as we all know, lurks the king of the
lizard men. And he won't be happy to see you.
--------
Sess'sth
--------
Whoa, that's a lot of s's. Sess'sth is big, ugly and EXTREMELY strong, not to
mention resilient. That club of his can take off three quarters of your health
with one swing and blocking can't save you. In fact, were it not for something
of a bug in the enemy AI, it would be nearly impossible to defeat him at all.
Thankfully, Sess'sth has a weakness that he shares with many other monsters in
the game - he'll only attack you when you are directly in front of him. This,
combined with the fact that he moves slower than you do, means that you can
literally run circles around him. As long as you stay behind him, he can't
hurt you at all, so just run tight little circles around him and attack each
time you end up behind him. If he does manage to hit you, heal up completely,
because a second swipe might be more than you can stand at half-health.
If you're having trouble with the big-guy and want to even up the odds, try
the following tactic from Andrew Liu. If you've been careful not to detonate
any of the explosive barrels, there should be a number of them scattered
throughout the level. Push them all to the entrance of Sess'sth's room before
you begin the fight and retreat immediately once it has begun. Run into the
hallway (jumping a lot will help you move a bit faster) and detonate the
barrels with an elemental arrow once the lizard is next to them. This should
take a nice chunk out of his HP for you right off the bat.
=======================================
10. Act III Walkthrough
Bog, Temple and Tower
=======================================
All right, you've made it this far and now nothing's going to stop you from
finding Eldrith and whomping her pasty undead hide. Which is not to say that
nothing will TRY to stop you, they will, but you can handle it. So let's get
to work.
---------------
The Rotting Bog
---------------
Rare bog, this rotting bog. It starts out as a rehash of Adderspine road, but
without the lizard men. Zombies, zombies everywhere, so cut them down and stay
away from the corpses as they are prone to emitting clouds of poison.
Eventually you'll run out of zombies and into trouble, namely the infamous
bullette (pronunciation guide: bull [as in, male cow] - AY [as in, the Fonz]).
I never imagined bullettes to be quite so comical, but I did expect them to be
dangerous, which they are. In fact, they're damn dangerous, with a ridiculous
rate of attack, lotsa HP and a pretty decent movement speed. If you're going
to take them on, it will be suicide to use anything other than the block-attack
method outlined earlier.
Personally, I don't think it's worth the effort... and no one said you actually
have to kill them. I suggest that you just keep running until you get to the
entrance of the sinking temple, then walk right on in.
------------------
The Sinking Temple
------------------
Whole lot of minotaurs going on in here. They have strong attacks but not a
huge number of hit points, so I recommend attacking them from a distance. The
ever-popular lightning arrows will certainly get the job done admirably. You
can recall when you run out of potions, so just don't rush too much and you'll
be done before you know it. Up ahead is Sleyvas, and this time he warrants his
own section.
-------
Sleyvas
-------
This is your last chance to shop before the final confrontation, so don't let's
be stingy. First order of business: if you don't have two rings of +15
strength, then buy them right now. With them equipped, you'll be able to carry
some 500 pounds of loot or, more importantly, potions. Also, if there are any
small upgrades you can make to your armor, you might as well. You can also get
a nice weapon if you like, but you'll be finding much better stuff inside the
Onyx tower shortly, so I don't know if it's worth it. One thing you don't need
a ton of are arrows, as they are in great supply inside the tower. I don't
think you could possibly run out, short of firing them at walls for hours on
end.
So, buy potions. Many, many potions. I left with about 125 of each kind (no,
I didn't buy any recall potions) and was glad to have them. Personally, I
found that I was largely able to maintain my potion stocks throughout the
tower (well, I gained a few healing potions and lost a few rejuvination
potions), but it's nice to have a safety net. Also, you'll want to have a
decent number left over when you get to Eldrith.
Right, we're all stocked up now, so let's go visit the elemental plane of
water.
--------------
The Onyx Tower
--------------
I think that the biggest disappointment for me in the game is that you never
really get to see the plane of water. Oh well, you're in the tower now and
things are going to be tough. But take heart, for while the tower may be
difficult, it's far from impossible to complete. You may die a whole bunch
of times, but as long as you're somewhat careful you'll make it through
eventually.
The treasure chests here are your best friends in the world, as they can
contain the best items in the game, or at least a couple of potions. Be on the
lookout for an amulet of constitution +15, which I think is indispensable
if you want to get out of here alive. It will grant you some 300 extra HP and
also will increase the rate at which you regenerate. One thing to note is that
the chests will give you different items every time you open them; if you don't
get what you need, you can always reload and try again. Anyway, you'll probably
die a large number of times, and these are opportunities to look for new
goodies in the chests. If you get something that you really want, SAVE THE
GAME! It might not be there if you die and redo a portion of the tower.
When progressing, keep an eye on your potion stocks. If you find that you're
using a lot more than you are finding, consider reloading an older save and
proceeding more slowly. Remember, you can always find a safe spot and rest up!
Also, don't get greedy - carrying a ton of magical weapons or armor that you
aren't using will prevent you from picking up much needed potions. Don't
forget that you'll never have a chance to sell any of your loot! With that in
mind, I also suggest that you don't insist on completely clearing each level
out. If you find the stairs, move along - killing all the monsters will just
use up your potions and you'll need them all later.
Let's see, what kinds of enemies can you look forward to facing inside the
tower? The gargoyles are fast and dangerous, particularly if they mob you.
One at a time, you can probably take them out with your melee weapons without
too much difficulty, but they can drain your health in no time if they surround
you. If you see more than one, open fire from far away and switch back to your
sword (or what have you) at close range.
Golems come in three sizes: big, huge and bloody massive. The big ones spit
poison, which is a right pain in the rear, but they aren't too dangerous. In
a few instances, you'll run into more than one, and then you should throw
everything you have at them. The slightly bigger golems have nasty twin
swords that the swing around impressively, and you don't want to get near them
at all. You can, however, chop off their arms, which makes them a lot less
dangerous. The really, really big golems carry huge spears and can stick it to
you from half the screen away. Keep them on the edge of the screen, or you'll
regret it in no time.
There are some minotaurs and spiders, and they are the least of your worries.
There are also some very, VERY annoying fire creatures that are quite hard to
dispose of, but they are thankfully few in number. Just don't attack them with
any kind of fire and you'll get them eventually.
The Onyx Golem is quite dangerous, but there's only one and it's relatively
slow. Stay behind it if you want to attack at close range, otherwise just
fire arrows from as far away as possible. The Onyx Sword that it drops is just
about the best thing going for weapons, since it has that lovely 90 minimum
damage.
Good luck fighting your way through the tower, if all goes well you'll
eventually make it to the Hall of Remembrance and the final battle. The hall
is filled with potions, so make sure you take all that you can carry before
going into the last battle.
-------
Eldrith
-------
Eldrith is a tough cookie, but is by no means impossible to beat. Sadly, all
electricity based attacks are useless against her, and as the archer the only
other thing that does comperable damage is your melee attack. So get right in
there and start hacking, or else use a very short range hail of arrows. Either
way, you'll have to be up close and personal. Eldrith leaves herself open when
she throws her sword like a boomerang, use this time to hit her, but be sure
to stand out of the path of her weapon while doing so. Don't bother attacking
her while she's "growing", you can't harm her and you'll take damage from the
lightning.
I used about 100 extra healing potions fighting Eldrith, but I also beat her
on the first try (more than I can say for a number of the other bosses). I'm
sure that it can be done with a lot less potions if you are more careful and
you fight her a few times to learn her attack patterns. I'd be interested to
hear your war stories!
Once Eldrith is down, walk out the teleportation gate and savor your victory.
Not only have you bested the hardest level of difficulty the game has to offer,
but you can now load up saved games with Drizzt! Congratulation, a winner is
you.
========================
11. List of Contributors
========================
The following people have offered good strategies that are included in this
guide:
opi - Tactics for recovery during the battle with Karne
Andrew Lui - The exploding barrel approach to Sess'sth
Ok, there aren't too many contributions just yet. Send some in and your name
might end up on this list too. Think of the glory!
=================
10. Parting Shots
=================
Thanks for reading this FAQ, I'm happy to have a chance to contribute to the
site that's helped me through some of the toughest spots I've faced in gaming.
You should only find this FAQ on www.gamefaqs.com or my homepage,
http://members.lycos.co.uk/igotyousucka/hob. Anyone else has stolen it, and
you should tell me about it so I can punish them. I did indeed write every
word of this FAQ, so please ask my permission before using any of it for
purposes other than getting through the game yourself.
If you spot any errors/gross oversights, feel free to tell me about it at
michael_ayles@yahoo.com. As long as you're nice about it, I'll be happy to
get any corrections you have to send. If you have any questions that ARE NOT
COVERED IN THE FAQ, please send them to me. If they have been covered, I may
respond in a grumpy and unsympathetic manner, so consider yourself warned.
Happy hacking, and don't forget your helmet.